Difference in liver injury induced by dictamnine between males and females: based on untargeted metabolomics / 中国中药杂志

In recent years, reports of adverse reactions related to traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) have been on the rise, especially some traditionally considered "non-toxic" TCM(such as Dictamni Cortex). This has aroused the concern of scholars. This study aims to explore the metabolomic mechanism underlying the difference in liver injury induced by dictamnine between males and females through the experiment on 4-week-old mice. The results showed that the serum biochemical indexes of liver function and organ coefficients were significantly increased by dictamnine(P<0.05), and hepatic alveolar steatosis was mainly observed in female mice. However, no histopathological changes were observed in the male mice. Furthermore, a total of 48 differential metabolites(such as tryptophan, corticosterone, and indole) related to the difference in liver injury between males and females were screened out by untargeted metabolomics and multivariate statistical analysis. According to the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve, 14 metabolites were highly correlated with the difference. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis indicated that disorders of metabolic pathways, such as tryptophan metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and ferroptosis(linoleic acid metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism), may be the potential mechanism of the difference. Liver injury induced by dictamnine is significantly different between males and females, which may be caused by the disorders of tryptophan metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and ferroptosis pathways.

Species Differences of Bakuchiol-induced Liver Injury in Mice Based on Transcriptomics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the differences in response to bakuchiol-induced hepatotoxicity between Institute of Cancer Research （ICR） mice and Kunming （KM） mice. MethodThe objective manifestations of bakuchiol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice were confirmed by acute and subacute toxicity animal experiments， and enrichment pathways of differential genes between normal ICR mice and KM mice were compared by transcriptomics. The real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （real-time qPCR） assay was used to verify the mRNA expression of key genes in the related pathways to confirm the species differences of bakuchiol-induced liver injury. ResultIn the subacute toxicity experiment， compared with the normal mice， the ICR mice showed increased serum content of alkaline phosphatase （ALP）， and 5′-nucleotidase （5′-NT）， without significant difference， and no manifest change was observed in KM mice. Pathological results showed that hepatocyte hypertrophy was the main pathological feature in ICR mice and hepatocyte steatosis in KM mice. In the acute toxicity experiment， KM mice showed erect hair， mental malaise， and near-death 3 days after administration. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase （ALT） and aspartate aminotransferase （AST） in KM mice （400 mg·kg-1） significantly increased（P<0.01）， and the activity of total reactive oxygen species （SOD） in liver significantly decreased（P<0.01）compared with those in normal mice， while the serum content of 5′-NT and cholinesterase （CHE） in ICR mice （400 mg·kg-1） were significantly elevated （P<0.01）. The liver/brain ratio in ICR mice increased by 20.34% and that in KM mice increased by 29.14% （P<0.01）. The main pathological manifestation of the liver in ICR mice was hepatocyte hypertrophy， while those in KM mice were focal inflammation， hepatocyte hypertrophy， and hepatocyte steatosis. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG）and Reactome pathway enrichment analyses showed that the differential gene expression between ICR mice and KM mice was mainly involved in oxidative phosphorylation， bile secretion， bile acid and bile salts synthesis， and metabolism pathway. CYP7A1 was up-regulated in all groups with drug intervention （P<0.01） and MRP2 was reduced in all groups with drug intervention of KM mice （P<0.01） and elevated in all groups with drug intervention of ICR mice （P<0.01） compared with those in the normal group. The expression of BSEP was lowered in ICR mice with acute liver injury （400 mg·kg-1） （P<0.05）. SHP1 was highly expressed in KM mice with acute liver injury （400 mg·kg-1）. The expression of FXR was diminished in ICR mice with subacute liver injury （200 mg·kg-1） （P<0.01）. SOD1， CAT， and NFR2 significantly decreased in KM mice with acute liver injury （400 mg·kg-1）， and CAT dwindled in KM mice with subacute liver injury （200 mg·kg-1） （P<0.01）. GSTA1 and GPX1 significantly increased in KM mice with acute liver injury （400 mg·kg-1） （P<0.01） and SOD1， CAT， NRF2， and GSTA1 significantly increased in ICR mice with subacute liver injury （200 mg·kg-1） （P<0.01）. CAT and NRF2 significantly increased in ICR mice with acute liver injury （400 mg·kg-1） （P<0.01）. ConclusionWith the increase in the dosage of bakuchiol， the liver injury induced by oxidative stress in KM mice was gradually aggravated， and ICR mice showed stronger antioxidant capacity. The comparison of responses to bakuchiol-induced hepatotoxicity between ICR mice and KM mice reveals that ICR mice are more suitable for the investigation of the mechanisms related to bile secretion and bile acid metabolism in the research on bakuchiol-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. KM mice are more prone to liver injury caused by oxidative stress.

Effect and Mechanism of "Liver-Soothing and Spleen-Invigorating" Therapies Against Liver Injury in Rats： An Exploration Based on TGR5 and Intestinal Mucosal Barrier Function / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of different treatment methods of "soothing liver， invigorating spleen， soothing liver and invigorating spleen， soothing liver first and then soothing liver and invigorating spleen， as well as invigorating spleen first and then soothing liver and invigorating spleen" on liver depression combined with liver injury in rats and their action mechanisms. MethodA six-week rat model of liver depression combined with liver injury was established by restraint stress and subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride （CCl4， 5.89 g·kg-1， once every three days）. At the same time， the drugs were given by gavage. Forty-eight male SD rats of clean grade were randomly divided into eight groups， namely the normal group， model group， bicyclol （0.2 g·kg-1） group， Sinisan （4.32 g·kg-1） group， Liu Junzitang （9.26 g·kg-1） group， Chaishao Liu Junzitang A （Chai A， soothing liver and invigorating spleen，13.57 g·kg-1） group， Chaishao Liu Junzitang B （Chai B， soothing liver first and then soothing liver and invigorating spleen， 13.57 g·kg-1） group， and Chaishao Liu Junzitang C （Chai C， invigorating spleen first and then soothing liver and invigorating spleen， 13.57 g·kg-1） group， with six rats in each group. The pathological changes in liver and colon tissues of each group were observed under light microscope and electron microscope. The serum biochemical indexes of the liver were detected using an automatic biochemical analyzer. The relative mRNA expression levels of Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 （TGR5） and intestinal mucosal zona occluden-1 （ZO-1）， Occludin， and Claudin-1 in the liver and colon were detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. The positive expression rate of proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNA） in the colon was detected by immunohistochemistry. ResultCompared with normal group， the model group exhibited significantly elevated serum alkaline phosphatase （ALP）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， total bilirubin （TBIL）， and direct bilirubin （DBIL） （P<0.01）， lowered TGR5 mRNA expression in liver tissue， up-regulated TGR5 mRNA expression in the colon tissue （P<0.05，P<0.01）， and down-regulated ZO-1， Occludin， and tight junction protein-1 (Claudin-1) mRNA expression and PCNA in the colon tissue （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， bicyclol and Chai C remarkably decreased the levels of serum ALP， ALT， AST， TBIL， and DBIL （P<0.05，P<0.01）， while Liu Junzitang， Chai A， Chai B， and Chai C significantly up-regulated the TGR5 mRNA expression in the liver and down-regulated its expression in the colon （P<0.01）. Bicyclol， Chai A， Chai B， and Chai C enhanced the ZO-1 and Claudin-1 mRNA expression in the colon （P<0.05，P<0.01）. Bicyclol， Sinisan， and Chai C increased PCNA expression （P<0.01）. The comparison with the Chai C group showed that the TGR5 mRNA expression in the liver and ZO-1 mRNA expression in the colon of the bicyclol and Sinisan groups were lower， whereas the TGR5 mRNA expression in the colon was higher （P<0.01）. However， the PCNA expression in the colon of the Liu Junzitang and Chai B groups declined significantly （P<0.05）. ConclusionIn the presence of liver injury， invigorating spleen first helps to relieve the liver injury， and the efficacy of "spleen-invigorating" therapy in increasing the intestinal mucosal tight junction proteins and improving the gastrointestinal function is related to its activation of TGR5 to improve the intestinal mucosal barrier function， promote the renewal of intestinal stem cells， and drive the regeneration after injury.

Comparative Study on Hepatotoxicity of Psoraleae Fructus in Rats and Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:Arrange long-term toxicity experiments by a uniform design method， so as to explore the effect of different extracts of Psoraleae Fructus on liver toxicity in rats and mice， and find the drug factors that cause psoralen liver toxicity. Method:Based on the factors of processing， extraction technology， dosage and treatment course， each experimental group was arranged by uniform design method. A total of 220 SD rats and 220 Kunming mice with half male and half female were divided into normal groups and drug groups 1 to 8. The corresponding drugs （50% alcohol extract of salt Psoraleae Fructus in rats 2.57 g·kg-1， mice 5.14 g·kg-1， 95% alcohol extract of Psoraleae Fructus in rats 0.51 g·kg-1， mice 1.02 g·kg-1， 70% alcohol extract of salt Psoraleae Fructus in rats 1.71 g·kg-1， mice 3.42 g·kg-1， water extract of Psoraleae Fructus in rats 1.03 g·kg-1， mice 2.06 g·kg-1， water extract of salt Psoraleae Fructus in rats 1.03 g·kg-1， mice 2.06 g·kg-1， 70% alcohol extract of Psoraleae Fructus in rats 1.71 g·kg-1， mice 3.42 g·kg-1， 95% alcohol extract of salt Psoraleae Fructus in rats 0.51 g·kg-1， mice 1.02 g·kg-1， 50% alcohol extract of Psoraleae Fructus in rats 2.57 g·kg-1， mice 5.14 g·kg-1） were administered by gavage daily. The body weight and food intake of the rats and mice were measured once a week. After the treatment course， the rats were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital， and blood was taken from the abdominal aorta， and the mice were sacrificed by removing the eyeballs， and the liver and brain were taken to calculate the organ coefficients. Serum was taken to determine liver function-related indicators， and the liver was taken for histopathological examination by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. Result:The liver visceral-brain ratio of female rats in group 3 were significantly increased （P<0.05）. The liver quality， visceral-body ratio and visceral-brain ratio of male mice in groups 1 to 3 were significantly increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Histopathological manifestations in mice were more obvious than those in rats. Histopathology showed hepatocyte hypertrophy in the central area of liver lobules in mice， in particular in group 3. According to the multiple regression equation， there were interactions between extraction technology， processing， dosage and treatment course， and the extraction technology was positively correlated with the pathological score of liver injury. Based on the results of visual analysis and other indicators， it is concluded that the extraction technology factor is most relevant to psoralen liver toxicity of Psoraleae Fructus. Conclusion:Psoraleae Fructus has the hepatotoxicity， which is related to ethanol extraction technology； alcohol extraction is more toxic than water extraction， and 70% ethanol extraction is the most toxic. Besides， there are species differences， with a more significant hepatotoxicity in mice than that in rats.